OLYMPICS SPECIAL: Max Whitlock on Paris 2024, life as a gymnast and retirement

This week, for our series finale, I, Kelly-Anne Taylor, bring to you our Olympics special – it is an interview with the most successful British gymnast of all time – the six-time Olympic medallist, and the most successful pommel horse worker in the Games’ history – it’s Max Whitlock. In this episode, we reflect on his career – how he started gymnastics, his training regime during his teenage years (which hit highs of 35 hours a week – alongside school!) and competing in London in 2012. We also talk about a period of low mental health that he experienced after the Tokyo Olympics – and how having his daughter Willow, altered his approach to the sport. Plus, he talks about preparing for the Paris games and reveals why he has chosen to retire now. I hope you enjoyed our series finale with the delightful Max Whitlock. I have loved choosing the guests for this series, researching, writing questions, and curating these interviews for you – wonderful listener. It is a joy and privilege to be able to create this podcast – and I want to thank you for listening, for writing in, for reviewing and for taking the time to listen to these conversations. Remember, that there is a wealth of archived episodes for you to go back and enjoy – be in my conversation, from the very early days of this series, with Stephen Fry in which we talk about how TV helped him come out, or my chat with the phenomenal duo Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver – in which they discuss the perils of fame and the misogyny they’ve faced – or you might like to listen and laugh to my conversation with Miriam Margolyes. You can also feast on our weekly recommendations podcast – in which I, and my co-host the TV critic and RT columnist Caroline Frost, run you through everything to watch that week on telly – and, tell you what to avoid. Thank you so much for listening – I’ll be back very soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices